Battery-feed for looms.



E. S. STIMPSON.

BATTERY FEED FOR Looms. APPLICATION man AUG. 14, 1916. RENEWED MAR.11.1918.

1,269,975. Patented June 18, 1918 Fig.1. I

inventor. Edward SSIimpson,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD S. STIMPSON, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGN- MENTS, TO DRAPER CORPORATION, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ACORPORA- TION 0F MAINE.

BATTERY-FEED FOB LOOMS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J une 1S, 1918 6 Applicationfiled August 14, 1916, Serial No. 114,682. Renewedllarcli 11, 1918.Serial No. 221,863.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD S. STIMrsoN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Hopedale, county of Worcester,State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Battery-Feedsfor Looms, of which the following description, in connection with theaccompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawingrepresenting like parts.

This invention relates to automatic filling replenishin mechanism forlooms of the Northrop type in which the supply of fresh filling carriersor bobbins is maintained in a rotary battery, feederor hopper from whichupon the call for filling replenishment they are successively transferred to the running shuttle. This general type of mechanism is wellknown and familiar and reference may be had to my prior patent No.664,790 granted December 25, 1900, as an illustration of one formthereof.

The fresh filling carriers are positioned about the periphery of thehopper in equidistant peripheral seats. The hopper is rotated by thecooperation of a toothed dog moved by the transferrer and a ratchetwheel rotating with the hopper. Some classes of weaving require thefilling carriers to be wound with a much larger amount of filling thanothers, and in such cases it is necessar that the peripheral seats inthe hopper sha 1 be farther apart than is required by the ordinary ornormal sized filling carrier and filling. In such cases it is founddifficult and frequently impossible to give the requisite amount ofrotation to the hopper to bring a fresh filling carrier into properdischarging position while retaining the use of the transferrer as theactuating element for securing the hopper rotation.

The object of. the present invention is to provide a simple andefiicient construction whereby the ordinary type of transferrer such asshown in my prior patent No. $641,790 with its dog may be retained asthe actuating element for securing the rotation ofthe hopper, butwhereby sufficient and requlred rotation may be given to the hopper tobring each fresh. filling carrier accurately into proper dischargingposition.

These and other features of the invention will appear more fully fromthe accompanying description and drawings and will be particularlypointed out in the claims.

The drawings illustrate so much of a filling replenishing mechanism ofthe general type illustrated in my aforesaid patent No.

664,790 as is necessary to an understanding of the present invention, apreferred form of which is shown embodied therein.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is an end elevation partially in transverse section of thehopper stand, a portion of the hopper and the transferrer and connectingparts;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the transferrer dog showing also thetransferrer in vertical cross section;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation partially in cross section of a portion ofthe mechanism shown in Fig. 1 with the parts in a different position.

The general construction of the type of loom illustrated being wellknown and fa miliar needs no extended description. The rotary battery,feeder or hopper comprises parallel disks between which the fillingcarriers such as bobbins are mounted in a circular series. But one ofthese disks, namely, the disk 1 is shown and is provided with the.peripheral seats 2 for the butts of the bobbins 3. The hopper isrotatably mounted on the fixed stud 41 secured to the hopper stand 5which is itself secured to the loom frame at one side of the loom. Acircular flange 6 on the hopper stand surrounds the disk 1 to protectthe heads of the bobbins and to retain them in place until they reachsubstantially their operative position, the flange terminating at thepoints 7 and 8.

The hopper stand is preferably provided with a relatively fixed abutment9 against which thebobbin to be transferred is brought by the rotationof the hopper and during transfer from the hopper the bobbin ispreferably guided against this abutment to direct it into the shuttlebeneath. The flange 6 terminates opposite the abutment at the point 8but is effectively prolonged by i the bobbin support 10 pivoted at 11 tothe hopper stand. This bobbin support serves to retain the bobbinsnearest the abutment in their seats in the hopper and yields upon thepassage of the bobbin to be transferred to permit its discharge from thehopper.

The mechanism illustrated for effecting transfer of the bobbins from thehopper is .of awell known type and comprises the transferrer 12 pivotedon ahorizontal stud 13 carried by the hopper stand 5 and provided with adepending arm 14 through which it is actuated upon the call. for fillingreplenishment. The transferrer is normally elevated through the actionof the spring 15-"and is depressed to efiect the transfer movementthrough the usual connections with the depending arm 14. At its free endthe trans-ferrer is provided with a downturned portion 16 to engage thebobbin and discharge it from its seat in the hopper disks. 7

The hopper is rotated to bring a fresh bobbin into position for transferby the upward movement of the transferrer and it is to this feature thatthe invention more particularly relates.

The hopper is provided with a ratchet wheel 17 integral with or movingsynchronously with the hopper and having such a number of teeth that thenumber of bobbin seats is divisible therein without remainder.Preferably these teeth 18 are equal in number to the bobbin seats 2 inthe hopper. The transferrer '12 has pivotally mounted thereon a dog 19.This dog is provided with a pivotal stud 20 extending into a hub 21 onthe transferrer. A helical spring 22 surrounds the stud 20, is securedat one end in a hub 21 and at the opposite end in a cap 23 pinned to thestud 20. This spring acts normally to hold the dog 19 against the freeend of the transferrer as shown in Fig. 1. The dog 19 is provided with aplurality of teeth and preferably as illustrated with two teeth 24and'25 projecting laterally therefrom and so positioned that upon theupward movement of the transferrer and dog these teeth successivelyengage the teeth of the ratchet wheel.

Retrograde movement of the hopper is prevented by the usual detent pawl26 pivoted at 27 to the hopper stand 5 and movable by gravity due to theweighted foot 28 to bring the tooth 29 into engagement with the teeth ofthe ratchet wheel. A lateral lug 30 carried by an extension 31 of thedetent pawl engages the inner periphery of the flange 32 of the ratchetwheel and thereby prevents disengagement of the detent pawl and ratchet.The dog 19 and the detent pawl 26 are provided, respectively, with thecooperating cani fiangemembers 33 and 34 which act to insure that thetooth 24 of the dog shall enter squarely into the proper position incontact with the base of the proper ratchet tooth preparatory to therotation of the hopper.

The actuating movement of the dog 19 takes place upon the upwardmovement of the transferrer 12 the cam member 33 at this time being incontact with the cam member 34 and the transferrer being depressed. In

path determined by the upward movement of the dog and the guiding actionof the cam 33 upon the cam 34. These cam members 33' and 34 are soshaped that the path of movement of the dog is such that the tooth 24 iscarried clear of the ratchet wheel and directly in front of the ratchetwheel teeth and brought into such a position that it is seated firmlyagainst the base of the-ratchet .wheel tooth which it is to engage andthus the proper and eflicient action of the parts secured. Upon thedownward movement of the'dog with the transferrer the cam member 33again comes into contact with the cam member 34 and the reverse movementtakes place withdrawing the dog until it is in position to begin itsnext actuating move-- ment.

Upon the upward movement of the transferrer 12 and dog 19 the tooth 24which is then firmly seated against the base of-the. proper ratchettooth causes the ratchet Wheel to revolve and with it the hopper, thusbringing the fresh bobbin in its peripheral seat toward the abutment 9.This movement continues until the tooth 24 can no longer effect movementby cooperation with the tooth of the ratchet wheel with which it is incontact. Owing to the fact that the bobbin seats are more widely spacedthan normal because of the heavily wound bobbins or filling carriers themovement. thus given by the tooth 24 may be and frequently isinsufficient to bring the fresh 'bobbin into contact with the abutmentand thus into proper discharging position. The next tooth as the tooth25, however, is so positi'oned that as the tooth24 reaches the end ofits efiective actionthe tooth 25 comes into contact with the nextsuccessive tooth of the ratchet wheel and before the upward movement ofthe transferrer is completed acts to give an additional movement ofrotation to the ratchet wheel sufiicient to bring the fresh bobbin intoproper discharging position and into contact with the abutment 9. InFig. 3 the tooth 24 is shown in engaging position with the ratchet wheeland about to egin the movement of rotation while in Fig. 1 the tooth 24is shown as having left engagement withthe tooth of the ratchet Wheeland the tooth 25 to be in engagement with the next successive tooth ofthe ratchet wheel and completing the movement of rotation. Thus,notwithstanding the widely spaced bobbin seats in the hopper peripherysufficient rotation of the hopper is secured to bring each bobbinsuccessively and accurately into proper discharging position.

Means are provided as usual by which the dog 19 may be thrown out ofengagement with the ratchet wheel to enable the feeder to be rotated andset by hand and for this purpose the handle is provided on the dog to begrasped by the operator.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. An automatic weft replenishing loom comprising a rotary hopperprovided with equi-distant peripheral bobbin seats a abutment to guidethe bobbins in their discharge from the hopper seats during'transfer, aratchet wheel connected to and rotating with the hopper and havin thesame number of teeth as there are bobbin seats, a transferrer pivotallymounted adjacent the hopper, and a dog pivotally mounted on thetransferrer and provided with two teeth acting upon each upward movementof the transferrer successively to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheeland rotate said ratchet wheel to bring a bobbin into dischargingposition against said abutment.

2. An automatic weft replenishing loom comprising a rotar hopperprovided with equi-distant perip eral bobbin seats, a ratchet wheelconnected to and rotating with the hopper and having the same number ofteeth as there are bobbin seats, a transto engage a tooth of the ratchetwheel and r rotate said ratchet wheel and the second of said teethacting upon the conclusion of the eifective movement of the first toothto engage the next successive tooth of the ratchet wheel and give afurther rotation to said ratchet wheel thus to bring a bobbin intoproper discharging position.

3. An automatic weft replenishing loom comprising a rotary hopperprovided with equi-distant peripheral bobbin seats, an ratchet wheelconnected to and rotating with the hopper and having such a number ofteeth acting upon each upward movedivisible therein without remainder, atransferrer pivotally mounted adjacent the hopper, and a dog pivotallymounted on the transferrer and provided with two teeth to of teeth thatthe number of bobbin seats is ment of the transferrer successively toengage the teeth of the ratchet wheel and rotate the said ratchet wheelto bring a bobbin into discharging position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

EDWARD S. STIMPSON.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of ratents, Washington, I). C.

